Soyuz TMA-19M. Credits: ESA-S. Corvaja

Soyuz TMA-19M. Credits: ESA-S. Corvaja

Every space mission to the International Space Station starts with a train ride. The Soyuz TMA-19M that will take Tim Peake, Yuri Malenchenko and Tim Kopra to space 15 December at 11:03 GMT was rolled out to the launchpad today.

The trip from the assembly building to Launchpad 1 takes a few hours and it is considered bad luck for the departing crew to watch their rocket move into its launch position.

Fueling will start five hours before launch on 15 December. Until then the rocket stands almost 50 m tall waiting to fire its engines.

More pictures are available at ESA’s space in images.

Soyuz TMA-19M. Credits: ESA-S. Corvaja

Soyuz TMA-19M. Credits: ESA-S. Corvaja